Fatal-fire Review Urges Tougher Code

June 12, 1987|By Jack Houston.

Firefighters might have saved a woman trapped in a high-rise office fire last month if the city had a more stringent fire-safety code, a Chicago Fire Department official has concluded in his review of the department`s response to the blaze.

The critique, prepared by 1st Fire District Chief Richard J. Fitzpatrick, calls for mandatory fire drills in high-rise buildings and a requirement that building managers develop life-safety programs.

``If we are to have a proficient operation in a high-rise building,``

Fitzpatrick concludes, ``the various code changes that have been requested must be acted upon.``

Sources said that Fire Commissioner Louis Galante is expected to outline some proposed changes in the municipal code when he testifies at special Chicago City Council hearings that are to begin Friday, though detailed recommendations may come later. The council scheduled the hearings to examine fire department policies and procedures in the aftermath of the fire on May 13 in One Illinois Center that killed 31-year-old Nancy Clay.

Sources also said Galante is expected to tell council members that the extent of the fire was much greater than previously reported and to outline the difficulties faced in battling the blaze before firefighters could even reach the victim.

Galante, who is scheduled to testify at Friday`s hearing, is expected to stand by an earlier statement by his department spokesman that only a

``miracle`` could have saved Clay, a production manager who was working overnight in her firm`s 20th-floor office.

Sources said top fire officials disagree with Fitzpatrick`s conclusions that Clay could have been saved if the building requirements he recommends had been implemented.

Fitzpatrick`s recommendations, sent May 18 to Deputy Fire Commissioner Ronald Maloney, of the Bureau of Fire Suppression and Rescue, were relayed to Galante on June 3.

In a memo accompanying Fitzpatrick`s report, Maloney notes, ``It is well known that there has been a longstanding objection from office managers and building owners against pre-fire planning. Nothing short of a change in the municipal ordinance to compel (them) . . . will achieve this objective.``

Maloney supported Fitzpatrick`s call for ``frequent`` drills, but cautioned Galante that ``strident objections due to business interruptions would be heard.``

Not all building owners are opposed to such practice, according to Lawrence. Amoco Corp., which is headquartered in the 80-story Amoco Building, overlooking Grant Park, has operated a tenant life-safety program since the building opened in 1972.

Amoco`s program includes fire brigades on every floor with members trained to locate fires and evacuate the floors quickly. Each brigade practices drills at least twice a year, a company spokesman said.

Fitzpatrick also recommends in his memo that high-rises number and letter stairwells, noting, ``If this was in existence at the fire, we would have been able to find the victim sooner.``

Maloney added in his memo that door markings would be ``most beneficial,`` but said this also would require a change in the municipal code. On Thursday, it was reported that Fitzpatrick`s report criticizes the Fire Alarm Office for failing to notify firefighters that Clay was trapped by the blaze and that instructions by a dispatcher to ``check the 20th floor, northwest corner`` were unclear to the battalion chief at the scene.

The chief assumed the dispatcher was telling him where the fire was located, according to Fitzpatrick. His critique noted that firefighters battling the blaze apparently learned from a police officer that someone was trapped on the 20th floor.

Clay, a production manager for Frankel & Co., a marketing services firm at 111 E. Wacker Dr., died of smoke inhalation in the fire, which began about 3 a.m. on the floor where she had been working overnight on a project. Her body was found by firefighters in a northwest corner office 1 1/2 hours after her last call for help to 911.

The response to the fire has provoked criticism of the city`s emergency response systems, as well as the investigation by the city council.